Civitas Poll: Voters Support Ban on Talking and Driving

Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina voters overwhelming support state government passing a new law that would ban cell phone use while driving, except for the use of a hands-free device according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.

In the live caller poll of 600 likely 2010 voters, 78 percent of voters said they would support a new law requiring the use of a hands-free device while driving, only18 percent said they were opposed and 4 percent said they were not sure.

Currently, only seven states have banned talking on a hand-held device while driving: California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

The town of Chapel Hill recently made headlines with its recent consideration of a town-wide ban on the use of handheld devices while driving.

“Despite a recently released Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) report that found no reduction in traffic accidents after hand-held phone bans have taken effect, voters apparently want government to step in and protect them from their own actions,” said Civitas Institute Executive Director Francis De Luca. “Just like with the indoor smoking ban passed last year, voters seem willing to trade personal liberty for a perceived increase in personal safety.”

The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more polling information on Civitas polling see www.nccivitas.org/media/poll-results/.

Full text of question:

Do you support or oppose state government requiring the use of a hands-free device when using a cell phone while driving?

This poll of 600 likely general election voters in North Carolina was conducted Feb. 15-18 by Tel Opinion Research of Alexandria, Virginia. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters we interviewed had to have voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.

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